Field
The embodiments described below relate to three-dimensional imaging of interventional medical devices.
Description
Many medical procedures include insertion of a device (e.g., needle, catheter, stent, etc.) into a patient's body. During the insertion, an imaging system acquires and displays successive two-dimensional images of the portion of the body in which the device is located. The two-dimensional images are acquired and displayed in substantially real-time, thereby providing visual feedback to an operator controlling the insertion.
The success of the procedure depends upon the three-dimensional position of the device within the body. Accordingly, the two-dimensional images are of limited assistance to the operator. Unfortunately, generation of real-time three-dimensional images having sufficient resolution is beyond the processing capability of medical imaging systems used in such procedures.
Conventional systems attempt to address the foregoing by initially generating and displaying a single three-dimensional image of the relevant portion of the patient. During a procedure, successive two-dimensional images of the portion are acquired and overlaid on the static three-dimensional image. The overlay requires registration between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional images, which introduces inaccuracies. Moreover, even if registration were accurate, the resulting composite image is distracting and not suitably representative of the three-dimensional position of the device.